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Oct 18, 2016    From the CEO

RCM Recommends: Books On Leadership

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Part of being a great advertising consulting firm is staying abreast of trends and influencers in the world of business. The easiest (and probably best) way to do this is by digesting the steady stream of articles on these topics published by places like Fast Company, Inc, Forbes and the Harvard Business Review. However, at Rock Candy Media, we fancy ourselves as intellectuals, which means we’re also growing by cracking some good, old-fashioned books. Here are three of our favorites that we’ve read recently.

1. Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell​

outliers malcolm gladwell

As an advertiser, I’m obsessed with behavior patterns in the same way that Gladwell is. Trying to nail down those grey areas of behavior that we intuitively understand but can’t always articulate is a major part of what my team and I do. Gladwell also writes about how you can learn an enormous amount about people by who they surround themselves with, which I’ve found to be very useful when it comes to building and keeping a great team.

2. Elon Musk by Ashlee Vance

elon musk ashlee vance

I’m fascinated with public figures like Musk, Zuckerberg, and Bezos because of how transparent they are about their goals and motivations. They aren’t just entrepreneurs, there’s a showmanship element to their work that I think every entrepreneur can learn from. You shouldn’t just be making a great product, you should also be selling yourself and your thinking as contributing to limitless human potential. As a child of immigrants, I feel a special connection to Musk and his grandiose dreams.

3. The Man Nobody Knows by Bruce Barton

the man nobody knows bruce barton

I doubt many entrepreneurs are reading this now, but it was wildly popular after publication in 1925. Barton reframes Jesus as the ultimate masculine businessman – physically imposing, a great leader and an unparalleled pitchman. What I found so fascinating about this book is how similar it is to books on leadership being published today. Ideas about what it requires to be successful have been stagnant for nearly 100 years.

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